Research Analysis

Survey Results

• We created a Google survey which we used to target a large group of people in our target demographic (approximately ages 16 - 35)
• We received approximately 40 responses
• Overall, the responses indicated that people went out for both drinks and food on a fairly regular basis (most answers were either occasionally or frequently) and almost all (95%) responses indicated that they would like to learn more about new or popular restaurants or bars near them.
• About 80% or our survey takers noted that they occasionally have trouble deciding on a place that they would like to go out to
• When asked which information was most important when deciding where to go out, the results were fairly split but the top responses were:
• location
• menu
• price
• parking
• hours
• Only 37% of the surveyed group had never used a site like urbanspoon or yelp to help make a decision when going out
• Of this group, the majority didn't use these sites because they forgot about them
• People who did use sites like urban spoon or yelp were also asked to list the features they found most and least helpful
• Most helpful
• Search-ability
• listing the information in one place
• ratings/reviews from actual people
• 
  
• Least Helpful
• not enough information
• no pictures 
• difficult to narrow down choices when searching
• overwhelming amounts of information
• not comprehensive enough in terms of all kinds of restaurants
• also may not include "mom and pop" or smaller restaurants - too dominated by big chains
• In addition, most people did not have a particularly hard time finding what they were looking for if they were looking for something specific
• it was easy to find larger, especially chain restaurants, but much more difficult to find new or lesser know places
• many people also found the amount of text on one page a bit too much
• 48% of people also had to go to a different site in addition to the one they were originally using to get all the info they were looking for
• mostly for the menu, hours, or to find lesser known places not included in the larger site

Personal Interviews

• We each conducted personal interviews to add to our collection of information
• our interviewees included:
• 2 female college seniors
• 1 male college sophomore 
• 1 male recent graduate (within 5 years)
• When choosing a restaurant the most important deciding factors were:
• reviews/quality of food
• specials
• When choosing a bar to go out to the most important factors were:
• location
• specials
• atmosphere/entertainment
• Our interviewees went out to restaurants with varying frequency - most went out either once a week or every other week and one went as often as 3-4 times a week
• Similarly our interviewees went to bars with vary frequency as well. The range included 1-2 times a week , about once a week, a few times a month and 0 times a week (almost never)
• When going out, most did not look at reviews  but did ask for recommendations from family and friends. One however, looked at reviews almost every time
• Those that did look up reviews or other information before hand usually just googled it
• They specifically looked at the location's website about half the time
• The information that they were specifically looking for included the location's hours,  prices, and menu
• Everyone noted that they often made plans or looked for places very last minute. When they did plan ahead they noted that often their plans would change and they would end up looking for things last minute anyway
• Our responders did not find existing sites (like yelp or urban-spoon) particularly helpful. One noted that they "kind of suck"
• they often simply did not have the information they were looking for, it wasn't organized well enough to be helpful last minute, or didn't work well enough
• The majority of our people thought that they would like to see and would use a website to find the info they wanted when going out if there were a better option

Analysis

Overall, our research indicates that the most important aspect of our website will be the search functionality. This must be comprehensive and include the whole range of restaurant and bar locations that the columbus area has to offer. Our research also points us to pay careful attention to new or lesser known locations as those are often the most difficult to find on the other sites that are already available. In addition, our website must include all pertinent information, specifically including location, hours, specials, menu price, parking, ratings and reviews, and atmosphere/entertainment in an easy to read and not overly-cluttered format. Our group may also consider doing a mobile site because a number of our responses indicated that they tend to do things last minute, which might include while they are already out or are away from a computer.